Voter participation in elections is the cornerstone of U.S. democracy, yet there is a history of voter suppression and intimidation tactics that specifically target Black Americans which did not cease in the twenty-first century, it merely transformed. Teachers can help students get ahead of voter suppression efforts by making sure students…

Young people are very interested in politics right now. In 2018, the voter turnout rate for youth between the ages of 18 and 29 doubled from the previous midterm election: from 13% to 28%. This group has also made up a disproportionate share of those participating in recent demonstrations protesting racism and anti-Black violence nationwide.…

After a 72-year struggle, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote in 1920. Coupled with the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended voting rights to African American men, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment transformed the power and potency of the American electorate. This article invites the…

This 2020 issue of "Social Education," marking the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, seeks to broaden understanding of the suffrage story in several ways: by considering the strategies and tactics used by the suffragists to foment their agitation; by acknowledging the ways in which further work was needed to secure…

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The fight was a protracted one, lasting over 70 years, and it did not result in equity for diverse women. Voting and citizenship came to women of color differently depending on region, class, race, and ethnicity. For example,…

The nationwide commemoration in 2020 of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment is an opportunity to explore not only women's long struggle to achieve this landmark moment, but also to engage in an exploration of women's civic engagement during the woman suffrage movement. The terms "woman suffrage" and "suffragist" often…

In the 1930s, suffragist and women's rights activist Maud Wood Park "had the happy idea of dramatizing a series of episodes from Lucy Stone's life." This idea resulted in the publication, in 1938, of a 162-page nine-act play, "Lucy Stone: A Chronicle Play," based on a biography of the abolitionist and suffragist by her…

The amplification of women's voices and enfranchisement of their rights is a global issue that has gained momentum in the last century alongside the expansion of democracy. Women have seen their political presence increase in recent history, whether it be through suffrage and voting rights, parity of representation in governmental bodies, or…

From statues to picture books, the depictions of suffragists do not always do justice to the complexity of the issues and activists who fought for the 19th Amendment, which provided that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." This…

Every four years during the presidential election season, the media focuses on the perceived apathy of young people, and many well-intentioned organizations zero in on mobilizing young voters. This strategy leads to a myopic focus on just registering students to vote without adequate attention given towards the larger task of growing voters and…

This article shares lessons from committed and inspirational educators from across the country with whom the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) worked in 2020. Their experiences reinforce that nonpartisan teaching about democracy is possible (i.e., not teaching who to vote for, but rather how the system…

The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, a year after being passed by Congress. It extended the right to vote to many women, but not all. Excluded from this landmark constitutional victory were women like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who was born in Guangzhou (then Canton), China, in 1896, but who immigrated to New York as a child. From 1882 to…

When teachers discuss the 2020 presidential election with students, now and in future years, they will, appropriately, place front and center the ramifications of the baseless challenges by Donald Trump and his supporters to Joe Biden's victory. Even as state and federal courts across the nation tossed out lawsuits challenging vote counts, the…

Young people must systematically learn to become voters, and this is especially the case for those who grow up with little to no access to structured civic opportunities like extracurricular activities and community organizing. With those principles in mind, and based on 2018 research and experience with practitioners and partners, the authors…

The 2016 presidential election was the first since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in which full voting protections were not in place for historically marginalized voters. This shift was largely due to a 5-4 decision in "Shelby v. Holder" (2013) in which the Supreme Court ruled that states with a history of voter discrimination…